Retainer clip for belt fasteners



Feb. 14 1928,

G. E. PURPLE RETAINER CLIP FOR BELT FASTENERS Filed March 31, 1927Patented Feb. 14, 1,928.

i UNITED STATES I ffjhilsgom i' enoasn E. Ponen' or LA GRANGE, ILLINOIS,AssIeNoa yiro",rLnxIiLn. suma-Liec- ING coMrANY, or ement-io,n ILLINOIS,.Gcnroaarron`or Immers;y

RETAINER CLIP For; BELT rl'ascrfnixuiins.`

Application filedhMarch 31, 1927. Serial` No. 179,737.

This invention relates to improvements in retainerclips forbeltfasteners.

Certanwtypes Aof belt fasteners. particular- Y f corresponding slots orshoulders on the bolt heads, one example of suchV ay type. `of beltfastener being disclosed in my prior Patent 193825799. rgranted` June28. 1921.

Due to the fact that belt fasteners ot the type indicated are generallyused on relatively wide belts,- it isvdiliicult for one man tosimultaneously properly' hold the inner plate and'bolt heads so as to.prevent turning` of the` bolts. while tighteningr the nuts andconsequently it generally requires two nien to-applythe fasteners. .oneman on theinner orunder side. of the belt, holding the inner fastenerplate andlbolts inA inter-locked engagement and the'otherfrnan, onthe'outeror upperV side ot thebelt, turning the nuts until the fasteneris-completely attached. y

One object of: my invention is to provide '86.. simple andinexpensiveineansjusable with` belt rfasteners of the `@general typeabove 1nydicated7 for temporarily retaining; thebolts fand thatiplate ofthe ,fastener which haveinterlocking;A engagement in proper assemblywhileth'enuts are being-.applied to the bolts ontheYoppositeside: ofthebelty in order that the application offthe fastener may be inade withless` labor, morequickly. and withasreceding' arafrra h which are`further .characterizedV by the fact thatk said ineens will; beautomaticallyv disengaged troni the fastener .plate'when the nuts` onthe bolts have beenpartially.y turned downto a point assuring suicientfriction ibetween'the parts v of the fastener` to thereafter prevent thebolt surance that the bolt head'sfwill be properly headsfrom'becomingunseated while the; nuts are being turned lto their final position.`Other objectsfot the invention will rnore clearly appear from thedescription y in'conneotion with the laccoinpanyinfg drawing and "60claims hereinatterv following.

In the drawing 'forming apart kot this fspeciication, Figure 1 is a Viewshowing in .perspective the several parts of a belt tast- -ener andinyimproved retainer clip kusable 55 in connection therewitha the partsbeing sep# 1 aratedand arranged in thegeneral order in which they wouldbe assen'lbledl` Figure 2 is aside elevational view4 ot the abuttingends ot a belt to be -astened together with `the fastener and showing myimproved; retainer clip associated therewith; the condition of thepartsbeingthat when the fingers ofthe clip just engagey theunder-surface' of i the belt.; and prior tothe fastenerbeingcoin-4pletely attached to the beltends.V lligure is a1 sectional View, takenlengthwise ot the beltand 'showing the fastener completely attached'tothe belt andjwith the retainerL clip disengagedtrom the lower or innerplate of B0 the fastener. AndfFigure 4 .is a transverse sectional view,corresponding to thcline 1-4" of Figure 2p "Si f The .belt-fastener.proper, shown iny the drawing, which is villustrative ot one type of 35fastenerwith which ymy retainerv is adepted lto be ernployed,comprises.` broadly, an Iupper g or outside plateA;v a lower orinnerplate B; and two holtsCe-C the nut-s usablelwith the bolt/C notbeing` shown in Figure 1.x but` 901 illustrated atD-#D in :Figure Thelower 1 plate B, which will ordinarily be of relatively heavy gaugesheet metal is VVelongatedand hasYcounter-sinks at each end thereofdefined by approximately seiniecircular tlanres lals 10-10, stamped outfrom the platel vthe flanges 10H10 being; separated bytwo dia-metricallydisposed lugs 11-11 which are left in the main plane of theplate torthe' purpose hereinafter specified. Theupperplate 10o A is proyided withregistering 'counter-sinks 1.2-1.2. deiined by flangeswhich, in theyupperpl'atev,l arey continuous as clearly shown in Figure' 1. TheboltsCareprovided with conical heads 18-13, 'notched or recessed at `10|diametrically opposite points 'as indicated at" 1li-Aso that when thefastener is properly secured tothe abutting ends 15-15 ot' the belt asshown in Figure 3, the heads 13 of the bolts will befseated in thecounter-sinks,ot` 11g the inner plate B with the heads of the boltsflush with the plateand with the lugs 11 of the plate B engaged withinthe notches or recesses 141. rlhe nuts 16 may be provided with screwdriver slots 17 to permit the use of a suitable vtool for rotating thesame Aon the bolts. ln fasteners ot the type indicated, it is customaryto provide prongs 18-18 on both plates so arranged as to enter the beltends when the tast-:ener is applied. Preferably four such prongs will beprovided on each plate, two on each side, the two prongs on one sidebeing longitudinally odset slightly with respect to the'two prongs onthe other side so as to prevent all of the prongs from being inalignment when va plurality ot 'fasteners are used in attaching the beltends. For a more detailed description ot a belt .fastener proper ot thegeneral type indicated, reference may be had to my said prior Patent.No. 1,382,799.

In applying fasteners ot the type indicated, it is essential that thebolt heads 13 be maintained in interior-lied relation with the plate Bso as to assure Hush seating of the boltl heads and 4also to preventturning of the bolts while the nuts are being screwed home. Heretot'ore,it hasbeen customaryto manually retain the bolt heads in thisrelationwith the plate B while another operator turns the nuts on theopposite side of the belt. To obviate the manual procedure aboveindicated, I have provided theretainer clip indicated at E. This clipcom prises a plate o' somewhat elongated form and, as shown, with eightsides, the two end ones being indicated at 19-19 and the twocentralsides being indicated at 2O and 21, it being noted that the sideedges 2O and 21 are yslightly longitudinally oltset tor the purposehereinafter described. lntegrally formed with Vthe plate E are twospring lingers 22-22, the "same projecting Jfrom the side edges 2O and21 andV extending generally in a general right angular direction to themain plane oi the clip plate. Said fingers 22, as clearly illustrated inFigure 4, are given permanent bends which provide inwardly projectingrounded shallow shoulders 23-23. The width ot the fingers 22 is madeappreciably greater than the thickness ot the plate B so that the upperedges of the fingers 22 project somewhat above the plate BA and to asomewhat greater extent than the depth of the counter-sinlzs provided bythe flanges 10. The spacing between the lingers 22 is made to correspondwith the width ot' the plate B and due to the fact that the material ofwhich the clip is made, is inherently resilient, it is evident that thelingers 22 may be sprung over the plate B as clearly indicated in Figurel and ten'nporarily held in assembled relation with the plate B by meansof the shoulders 2B. rlhe length of the clip plate E is made such thatthe ends thereof will-overlap the heads 13 of the bolts. rlheoll'setting ot the spring lingers 22 is made to accord with theoffsetting of the prongs 18 andthe length of the lingers 22 is madeslightly less than the spacing between each pair or prongs, but ofsul'licient length so as to prevent the head ot either bolt from beinguncovered by the clip plate in any longitudinal position which the clipplate Ymay assume, the limits of the longitudinal movementbeingdetermined by the springl tingers engaging with the prongs 18, aswill be apparent from aninspection of Figure 2. The clip plateY may bestrengthened by providing an integrally lormcd longitudinal corrugation24v therein, as shown in Figures 1 and 4.

ln using my improvements, the two bolts C will be inserted through the.plate B and the heads ot' the bolts properly seated. The clip E is thenapplied and will thereafter retain the bolts in proper assembledposition with the plate B until the clip is disengaged as hereinafterexplained. rEhe assembly 'of the plate E, bolt C and clip E ,is thenapplied to the underor inner sidesfof the belt ends and the boltsinserted through suitable periorations previously made in the belt ends.The upper plate i is then applied over the shanlrs ot the bolts and thenuts D then applied to the bolt shanks. rrrhe nuts D are turned down andas the two plates A and B are thereby brought closer together, thecondition will arise as illustrated in Figure 2 where theV prongs 18 arejust loe-- ginning to enter the belt and the upper edges of the springlingers 22 engage with the under-surfaces of the belt ends. At thistime, itwill be obvious that there is an appreciable tension onthe-bolts creating su'i'fliicient rictiony between the bolt heads andthe plate l); to thereafter prevent unseating` of the bolt heads. Arsthe nuts D are further turned down, theplates A., and B will approacheach other still more and automatically the clip plate E will bedisengaged from the plate A at some point in the con-- dition of theparts between those two conditions illustrated in Figure 2 Vand Figureil. In actual practice, the Shanks of the bolt C are generally madelonger thannecessary and, after the nuts D are turned down to theirflush condition as illustrated in Figure 3, the excess length ot thebolt Shanks will either be cut oil or twisted oil' so as to leave aflush condition at both the inner and outer sides ot the belt.

With my improvements, it. will be seen that the labor required inapplying the fasteners is very materially reduced and assurance is hadthat the bolt heads will re main properly seated in the plate B duringall the period of application of the fastener. lt is obvious that the,retainer clip plates may be made at very small expense and that lUU los

rllt! lone such retainer plate may be used in the application of aseries of `fasteners of the corresponding size, it being understood thatthe retainer plates will be made in different sizes to correspond withdifferent sizes of .belt fasteners.

VWithin the scope of the claims appended hereto.

I claim:

l. As an article of manufacture, a temporary retainer clip for a beltfastener of the type employiiw plates and `connecting elements extendingfrom one plate to the other through the belt, said clip having meanstemporarily engageable with one plate to hold the clip and said plateasseni bled and having portions thereof arranged to be position-ed overthe ends of said elements to thereby hold the vlatter assembled withsaid plate.

2. As an article of manufacture, a retainer clip of the characterdescribed for a belt fastener of the'type employing plates andconnecting elements extending from one plate to the other through thebelt, said clipv having resilient fingers engageable with the edges ofone plate and havingend portions arranged to be positioned overthe endsVof said connectingelenients whereby said clip is adapted to beheldassembled with the,

the plate.

3. As an article of manufacture a retainer plate and hold said elementsassembled with clip of the character indicated for 'a beltv fastener ofthe type employing plates and Vconnecting elements extending from onetoY the other through the belt, said clip having resilient lingerstemporarily engageable with the` edges of one of said plates and ofgreater width than the thickness of said plate Whereby said lingerswillengage the belt before said plate engages the'belt to thereby forces off the clip as the plate further approaches the belt, said clip beingelongated with the ends thereof arranged to be positioned over the endsof said connecting elements.

l.cIn combination: a belt fastener plate having counter-sinks for thereception of a pair of bolt heads and provided with lugs engageable withthe bolt heads to prevent turningof thek latter; bolts having theirheadsseated in said counter-sinks and interlocked with said lugs; andaretaininer clip yieldingly engaged with said plate, said clip having theends thereof extended over said boltk heads to holdthe latter in theirseats.

5. In combination: a belt fastener plate having counter-sinks at theends thereof and provided with a pair of prongs along each side thereof,one pair being longitudinally offset with respect to the other pair,

said plate having lugs at each counter-sink; bolts assembled withsaidvplate, each bolt having a head seated in a counter-sink andrecessedL to receive the corresponding said lugs to prevent turning ofthe bolt; and a retainer clip of sheet metall having' laterallyseparated spring fingers arranged to tem-V porarily inter-lock with theedges of said plate, said lingers being elongated and disposed betweenthe corresponding pairs of prongs and adapted to be limited in movementlengthwise of the fastener plate by said prongs, said clip having itsends eX- tending over the heads of the bolts to thereby retain thelatter in assembled relation with the fastener plate.

In Witness that I claim the foregoing I have hereunto subscribed my namethis 22nd day of March, 1927.

GEORGE E. PURPLE.

